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Friday, 30 October 2009

Ladyfest is a big girl now, ten years old since the first festival was held in Olympia, WA.

To celebrate the group Ladyfest Ten want to hold an anniversary party but need help organising it. They want you to get involved, and share your ideas for the greatest party ever.

"We want to celebrate Ten years of this global DIY movement by running an event which brings together activists from all corners of the world."

The group are holding their first meeting on Monday 2nd. I'm not sure what exactly will happen but it sounds cool.

"Ladyfest is run by volunteers and we Ladyfest is Ten need YOU to get involvedin the anniversary party! If you are into art, music, activism, crafts, poltics,making friends, learning new skills, and making things better – this is foryou."

My biggest regret, well not biggest but it's in the top five at least, is that I didn't go to Ladyfest London in 2008 so I will definitely be popping down.

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

NME journalist, Emily Mackay started a blog questioning who were the greatest female lyricists of all time. She came to a justified decision and picked out Bjork, M.I.A, PJ Harvey, Kate Bush and Patti Smith.

I can't really disagree with her, I love every single one of them, but I have a few more I would add to the list:

Corin Tucker- Lead singer/howler of the inspirational band Sleater-Kinney, Corin generally wrote most of the lyrics and we're glad she did. Corin remained stridently political throughout her career and voiced her opinions in an intelligent and clear way.

Kim Deal- The famous bassist of the legendary Pixies, did anyone see them this October if so I'm jealous, is one of my favourite lyricists. She wrote one of the band's greatest songs, Gigantic, which was previously song of the month here. Kim's lyrics tend to not follow the rules and instead wander through the dark forests and magical landscapes of her mind.

Poly Styrene- This teenage punk was way ahead of her time when she started her band in the midst of the punk era. Avoiding the cliches that many fell into Poly sung about environmental issues, consumerism and the loss of identity.

Sunday, 25 October 2009

So I was reading my new digital issue of Bust magazine the other day, which you should definitely get if you don't live in the US. It's cheap and you don't have wait for-eve-er to get your copy. But any who, I was reading it the other day and I found out about this cute LA based comedy band Garfunkel & Oates.

Garfunkel, aka Riki Lindhorne, and Oates, aka Kate Micucci, make jokey songs mostly about dating and their sex lives. When they're not singing about that they also have some pretty funny things to say about Ducks and pregnant women, check it out!

Spring is over, Summer is gone and now we only have to cold reality of Winter to look forward too or so we think. There are a host of bands that are touring just to make you feel better, and maybe to make some money, but it's basically all for you so why don't you go. Here are just a few bands that will liven up your life.

The Gossip

Beth and the other two, I kid the other two are very talented, will be hitting a few more UK venues at the end of their UK tour. I saw them just as they were getting big at the Astoria and they were amazing. Nathan paced the stage in a ferocious, manic way, Hannah is a strong drummer and kept the beat going so you couldn't stop dancing and Beth, well you can guess what Beth was like. Even though she had a sore throat she sounded and looked amazing. You need to see this band.

The Gossip will be performing at the HMV Forum on 28th November next as part of the NME CALLING tour. For more information click here.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

This is a band that I have always wanted to see but for one reason or another I have just never got the chance to see them. I really want to be there when Karen O dedicates 'Maps' to the audience. She does it at nearly every show but it's good bit so why would she get rid of it. Like The Gossip, YYYs like to put on a show so don't worry about leaving there disappointed. Expect to be blinded by a shower of colours, glitter and the greatness that is Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs will start their Winter tour of the UK in Leeds on 29th November. Most of the tour is sold out now but their are a few tickets left in Newcastle and Sheffield. For more information click here.

Stealing Sheep
Stealing Sheep are a collective of ladies, and by collective I mean three, from Norway, Canada and England who want to share their love of contemporary folk ditties with the world. This band are new on my radar; I found them while I was researching upcoming events for my work. In a way their sporadic violin playing and harmonies are reminiscent of The Raincoats. Tomorrow they are starting a 'Batteries Not Included' tour of Manchester which will see them biking from venue to venue to play unplugged melodies. I'm definitely going to try and see them when they come down south.

Stealing Sheep will be playing at the Fuel Cafe in Manchester tomorrow. For more Information click here.

PeachesQueen of shock-rock Peaches plays a one-off date in the UK at Camden's Koko. If you have seen the videos from peaches.tv you'll know that Peaches is putting on a show and half for this tour. The show involves multiple costume changes, Peaches standing on top of the crowd and a 'pussy light'. I have decided I will be there no matter what get in touch if you will be too I want to see how many fans Peaches has.

Emily & The FavesThis band is also very new on my radar but I'm dedicated to finding out more about them. Emily & The Faves are a Liverpool based band that make lo-fi, home made sounding tunes. Their guitar riffs are always spot on, bouncy and vibrant like Sleater-Kinney circa 1999.

Emily & The Faves will be performing at An Outlet on the 27th October. For more information click here.

Saturday, 24 October 2009

I'm in love with the sixties at the moment so I thought I would make a mixtape of my favourite songs, and a few really good ones that I just found today, with you.

The songs and style really reflect the era that they were living in and what it was like for women. The girls sounded feminine, fierce and passive all at once. I love that contradiction because I believe one of the great things you can do with music is not always to challenge the status-quo but to acknowledge it. To honestly show society the twisted way it functions is the best cure for the ailments of this world.

I also can't say no to a good pop song. Kate Nash's new album is meant to be influenced by music of this era as well so look out for that when it comes out next year.

Tracklisting:
1. He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)- The Crystals
2. Give Him A Great Big Kiss- The Shangri-las
3. Dancing in the Street- Martha & the Vandellas
4. The Shoop Shoop Song- Betty Everett
5. You Keep Me Hangin' on- The Supremes
6. Be My Baby- The Ronettes
7. Chapel of Love- The Dixie Cups
8. Maybe- The Chantels
9. One Fine Day- The Chiffons
10. (Love Is Like A) Heatwave- Martha & the Vandellas
11. Remember (Walking in the Sand)- The Shangri-las
12. Then He Kissed Me- The Crystals
13. Please Mr Postman- The Marvelettes
14. (The Best Part of) Breakin' Up- The Ronettes
15. Baby Love- The Supremes

It's that time of the month again. You know the drill it's time for song of the month. The track for this month's feature is from an old band that I have only just found out about in the last couple of weeks from Carrie Brownstein's blog believe it or not.

The band in question is Helium and the song of the month is Pat's Trick from their 1995 debut album The Dirt of Luck.

I love this song for many, many reasons. Mainly because it's SO 90's, the video is too, it makes me happy. I, like many others, am stuck in a decade I grew up in. I love hearing 90's music back again because when you hear it has an adult it feels like it's been with you your whole life even if you just heard a second of it in a shop or on TV.

I also love the refrain when Mary sings "you are the most beautiful thing" over, and over again.

If you've been checking this blog over the last week you would have noticed that it has changed a bit each day.

I wanted to mix up the design but I'm pretty awful at design or telling if something looks good. I kinda wanted some cute designs and pics of girls playing guitar but I don't know how to upload them. Anyway I think less is more at the end of the day.

To sum up I hope you like the new design and I just wanted to explain why the blog looked so schizophrenic over the last couple of days. There will be a few posts coming up soon so keep a look out x.x.x.

Friday, 23 October 2009

Lulu & the Lampshades are girl-centric urban storytellers; the type that came to prominence after the success of Kate Nash and to a lesser extent Lily Allen. ‘Feet to the Sky’ is the band’s debut single it opens with twinkly, jangly harmonies that would fool anyone into believing it was a child’s nursery rhyme.

Lulu & the Lampshades are just as cute as a button; they are all about fun bike rides in the park and south London accents and on a good day I can’t help but love them. But on a bad day, mediocre day or even a normal day the over pronounced London accents, unnecessary ukuleles and general tweeness would start to grate on me a little.

Lulu & the Lampshades are a sweet band who aren’t afraid to experiment a bit, listen to the tempo changes and handclaps on Feet to the Sky, but they need to find their own voice. Their resemblance to folk-trio Peggy Sue is bordering on libellous and their tunes, while nice, aren’t as memorable as they should be.

‘Feet to the Sky’ is released on 7” inch on 26 October. The Band will be supporting Peggy Sue at the ICA on 6 November.

Friday, 16 October 2009

Some forward-thinking Grrrls are putting on a grrrl friendly club night in North London tomorrow.

Lydia, from Swimsuit Issue, and Laura, from These Words Are All I Have Sleater-Kinney reference love it, are putting on a 'grrrl safe' club night that focuses on grrrls that make sweet music and grrrls that love to listen to sweet music.

Girls Germs is a grrrl-tastic night of music, zines, cakes and dancing. Everybody who comes gets a free cupcake and a chance to buy zines from the fantastic We Are Words And Pictures zine stall. We’ll be playing le tigre, Bratmobile, Sleater-Kinney, The Slits, The Kills, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bikini Kill, M.I.A. and plenty of other amazing tunes by amazing grrrls. It’s going to be a celebration of women’s creativity, proof that girls making music is more thanjust a faddy trend.

The cool thing about this night is that misogynistic lyrics are not allowed so I can yet again make it through another day without running into Akon's 'Smack That' or the collaboration with David Guetta that resulted in 'Sexy Chick' and the memorable line "I'm trying to think of something to say without being disrespectful", just awful.

This night has everything I need in the world cool grrrls, amazing music, news zines, hand drawn flyer's and cake. If you ever need me to be somewhere promise cake.

As well as running the top class music blog, Monitor Mix, over at NPR it seems the ex Sleater-Kinney guitarist has been working away on a movie.

Carrie Brownstein stars alongside Shins frontman James Mercer in Portland filmmaker Matt McCormick's first feature film Some Days Are Better Than Others.

Brownstein stars as Katrina a twenty-something, she can get away with it, TV junkie and video diarist who realises the things she values in life might not count for much. Mercer plays Eli a 30-something slacker who makes excuse after excuse and blames society for why he won't get a job.

Though we only have a trailer to go it's fair to say it looks pretty bleak. The press release describes the film as such:

Some Days are Better Than Others is Matt McCormick’s poetic, character-driven debut feature-length film that asks why the good times slip by so fast while the difficult times seem so sticky. The film explores ideas of abundance, emptiness, human connection and abandonment while observing an interweaving web of awkward characters who maintain hope by inventing their own forms of communication and self-fulfillment.

The trailer certainly demonstrates the 'emptiness' and 'abandonment' that McCormick wants to demonstrate. We see Brownstein emptily sit by a toliet bowl, two people in a car looking at a miserable horizon, a woman look out from a bus window into the unforgiving wilderness that is our world. I could give many, many more examples.

though it looks as I said bleak I'm still looking forward to seeing it when and if it comes to the UK. It at least takes a stab at being intelligent rather than the mass produced rubbish that I've had to review lately, I name will no names.

" What I want women and girls to do is to complete thesentence, 'I'm not like other girls because...'"

A zine will be made of the responses which will make pretty good reading. I really want to post the PJ Harvey line "I'm not like other girls, you can't straighten my curls" but I'm not sure everyone will get it.

I'm probably a bit late on this one, well three months late to be exact I'll better I promise, but 'recently' my favourite English rose PJ Harvey debuted two new songs. If your as big a Harvey fan as me you'll be pretty excited by this. Her new songs are called 'The Last Living Rose' and 'Let Engalnd Shake'. She first included the songs as part of her set at the Dorset festival Bestival.

'The Last Living Rose' a first glance sounds like a tribute to the best and worst parts of English life. "For all that's European take me back to beautiful England" sings Polly. Of course our Polly is quite intelligent to say the least so I would take my interpretation as the only meaning. It reminds me a lot of the Is This Desire era sound. It is possible that PJ may be going back to that sound again for her next album as she a lot more songs from that era, 'Nina in Ecstacy' and 'Angelene' to name a few.

'Let England Shake' is a completely different sound for Harvey. It features, and don't quote me on this, the first sampling track Harvey has done. Harvey samples an unknown blues records and plays the vocals of a deep baritone voice repeating "Take me back to Constantinople, no you can't go back to Constantinople" in the background. Harvey adds her ususal beautifully bleak laments over the track, "I fear our blood will rise again."

Saturday, 3 October 2009

This is a recording of Heavens To Betsy's first demo tape. Heavens To Betsy were made up of Tracey Sawyer and Corin Tucker (later of Sleater-Kinney fame). The group was born during the full rage of the riot grrrl scene in Portland in the early 90s.

The songs include the various themes that riot grrrl was interested in e.g. sexism, rape and domestic violence. Corin even mentioned in an interview that she based her vocal style, in the early days, on Kathleen Hanna's, of Bikini Kill fame, infamous scream.The recording is from a cassette so the quality isn't too good but it's worth it to hear rare songs.